A review of “Bismarck’s War” by Rachel Chrastil – an account of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871
The Franco-Prussian War took place between 19 July 1870 and 28 January 1871. At the beginning, it was a conflict between the Second French Empire led by Emperor Napoleon III and the North German Confederation led by the King of Bavaria. However, following early defeat of French forces at Sedan, Napoleon resigned and the Second Republic was created and then, as the war eventually ended, the four southern German states joined the Confederation to create the German Empire.
German territory was barely touched, but nearly a third of French territory was occupied and the capital Paris was under brutal siege for over four months. Altogether some two million soldiers took part and more than 180,000 died. Chrastil, professor of history at Xavier University in Cincinnati, highlights that “it was the largest war in Europe between Waterloo and the Great War” and calls it “one of the most dramatic and one-sided defeats of any modern European army”.
In over 400 pages of smallish text, she provides a meticulous account of the military engagements and civilian hardships of that horrific six months, drawing upon many sources, including contemporary letters and diaries. Yet, this otherwise impressive work of historical scholarship is seriously lacking in both context and politics.
There is no history to the conflict (the account opens with the French declaration of war); there is minimal explanation of the cause of the war (the French objected to attempted German influence over the succession to the Spanish throne); there is only very brief reference to the Paris Commune (for socialists, this is an iconic event); there is too little material on developments after the war (yet the subtitle of the book refers to “the making of modern Europe”); and there is inadequate explanation for the book’s title (was it really Bismarck’s war?).